Lifeline and Lists
by writerintheday
Summary: Holly O'Hair- writer, fashionista, and long time crush holder on Darling Charming- overhears something that makes her very confused and frantic.


Holly O'Hair has liked Darling Charming for as long as she can remember.

Their mothers have been close friends ever since the girls went to their first Princess Etiquette class as kids- resulting in almost weekly visits in which the girls saw each other. Holly has been enchanted with how fierce and- well- _daring_ Darling is when the white and blue haired girl first snuck the two of them to the kitchen to get cupcakes.

Now they are in high school together, and crushing on Darling has become an ordinary, everyday thing to Holly. Nothing unusual happens- every single day is wishing she could have Darling, yet simply talking and laughing with her like every day before that. Her crush is just a part of her.

Sometimes Holly feels like it might slip out in introducing herself to someone. She is Holly O'Hair, daughter of Rapunzel, writer, fashionista, and long time crush holder on Darling Charming. It's as simple as that.

Her sexuality? Holly doesn't exactly know that. For her, it has always been Darling. From day one, her heart has always belonged to her best friend (asides from her twin sister, of course.) She calls herself Darlingsexual in her mind, because no one else has ever owned her heart.

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Darling Charming is almost ready to give up on her crush on Holly. It's been _years_ and Holly has never really shown any interest in her.

 _How hard is it to take someone's hand or flirt with them?_ Darling wonders. She's in a class that she doesn't really pay any attention in. She just knows that Holly is in it. They sit next to each other, with the long haired twin taking notes and the other girl trying not to think about how _close_ Holly was to her and daydreaming that she does it on purpose.

Really, Darling would have kissed Holly if she wasn't too scared of losing the girl's friendship. They were such close friends that people would ask them if they had a fight if one of them was without the other. Losing that kind of friendship- well, Darling doesn't think she could handle that.

But still, the temptation of holding Holly and being able to kiss her was almost too much to bear. Daring couldn't believe how natural it was, the feeling of being with her. Sometimes Darling would be reaching for the blonde's hand in the hallway, only to remember that they weren't together and stop in her tracks. After almost a decade, Holly still had this effect on her- the kind where Darling's breath would hitch when the girl looked her in the eye and her heart would race and-

Her thoughts ware cut off when she heard the word 'test'. Curses- there is a test? She'd have to borrow notes from friends and probably pull an all-nighter. She straightens and gives the teacher her full attention.

Holly is still in the corners of her mind, though. She always is.

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It's Monday, the absolute worst day in Holly's mind. She has had to wake up early today after two days of sleeping in, has tons of thronework to turn it, and on top of that, there's a test in Geografairy that Holly isn't very prepared for.

The tall girl is still half asleep as she walks to the Castleteria to get some breakfast. She desperately needs coffee to wake up, and needs it fast enough to go over notes one more time before the dreaded test.

As she's in the line for porridge, she overhears Rosabella Beauty talking to Raven Queen and flares to attention when the name of her best friend is mentioned.

Rosabella is blushing slightly as she lists names of girls in their year. Holly doesn't exactly know what these girls have in common with each other, or why in ever after Rosabella is blushing. Then Raven cuts in.

"Duchess? You find _Duchess_ cute? I get Darling and Ginger and the rest of them, but how do you find Duchess Swan attractive?" Raven is smiling as she leans against a table, exuding confidence. She waits for Rosabella to answer, but whatever it is, Holly does not hear. All she hears is a loud buzzing noise.

And that's why, in under two minutes, the long haired girl finds herself hurtling up the stairs to Darling's room.

Darling, part of a list of cute girls? Absolutely not. Darling deserves much more than that. Not only cute, but beautiful and gorgeous and heart wrenching and stunning. And not only looks- she is amazing in every way, especially her personality. Darling deserves to be the first on the list, the _only_ one on the list.

And Rosabella? She had just tossed Darling's name into a list and hadn't even thought about it. Darling was much more than cute. She was absolutely wonderful.

Thinking about Rosabella and Darling liking each other is enough to make Holly nauseous. They live together, and they spend so much time together, and worse- they would make a better looking couple than Holly and Darling would. In Holly's mind, she can not see why Darling would ever not like Rosabella.

Huffing and trying to catch her breath, Holly O'Hair throws open the room to Darling's room and announces, 'Darling Charming, I've liked you since the first time we met!"

Then her eyes fall on a sleeping Darling, notes scattered around her and textbooks open. "Oh."

She walks over to the girl and kneels down by her. Holly shakes her gently. "Darling. Darling, wake up. Darling?"

The sleeping beauty shifts and bats away Holly's hands. She's still sound asleep.

"Darling, you have a test in a few hours. You're gonna miss breakfast. Headmaster Grimm is gonna yell at you. Darling, there's a person trying to kidnap me and I need your sword because I can't fight him off without it."

At this, Darling jolts up. "What? Where? Hold on, let me get my sword!"

Holly laughs, amused by how quick the girl gets up at the mention of combat. "Nowhere. Sorry, I had to get you up."

"Oh." Darling slumps back down. "Why?"

Holly suddenly has a lump in her throat. She wants to get out the words that she came here to say so much, but having Darling in front of her, listening? That is very different to her.

That's when her mind goes back to Rosabella with Raven, her cheeks red. Her eyes flash, and before she can fully comprehend it- "I've liked you for ages! As more than a friend! And you deserve more than to be just a part of a list of cute girls!"

Darling wrinkles her eyebrows at this last part in confusion, but then she realizes what Holly has just admitted. Her eyes widen and she jumps up, rushing to hug the slightly smaller girl.

Holly holds on to Darling like she is her lifeline. "So?" she whispers. "Are you going to say something?"

Darling smiles into Holly's hair. "Yeah. I'm gonna say that I like you back. A lot. As more than a friend. And that you're amazing and lovely and beautiful."

Holly smiles so wide that she can't bring herself to stop. And when Darling leans down to press a kiss against the side of her head, she knows that this is what she wants. Her and Darling, together.

Everything is perfect with Darling- her best friend, her other half, her soulmate.


End file.
